Colossians 2 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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1. 0:00Colossians chapter 2 verse 1. For I want
2. 0:03you to know how great a struggle I have
3. 0:06on your behalf and for those who are at
4. 0:09Leodysia
5. 0:10and for all those who have not
6. 0:12personally seen my face
7. 0:15that their hearts may be encouraged
8. 0:18having been knit together in love and
9. 0:20attaining to all the wealth that comes
10. 0:23from the full assurance of understanding
11. 0:26resulting in a true knowledge of God's
12. 0:28mystery. that is Christ himself.
13. 0:32So a true knowledge of Christ myster of
14. 0:34God's mystery is to have Jesus in you
15. 0:39in whom are hidden all the treasures of
16. 0:43wisdom and knowledge.
17. 0:46I say this so that no one will delude
18. 0:49you with persuasive argument. For even
19. 0:53though I am absent in body,
20. 0:55nevertheless, I am with you in spirit,
21. 0:58rejoicing to see your good discipline
22. 1:01and the stability of your faith in
23. 1:03Christ.
24. 1:06Therefore, as you have received Christ
25. 1:09Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.
26. 1:16He's saying you accepted Jesus as your
27. 1:19saving Lord and Savior.
28. 1:23But the way you're walking now, you're
29. 1:25departing from his presence. You're not
30. 1:27in Christ in your thinking, in your
31. 1:30reasoning.
32. 1:31You need to walk in him. having been
33. 1:35firmly rooted
34. 1:37and now being built up in him and
35. 1:41established in your faith just as you
36. 1:45were instructed and overflowing with
37. 1:48gratitude.
38. 1:50So their repentance was a firm root. The
39. 1:52gospel was a firm root. They've already
40. 1:56been firmly rooted. Now he wants them to
41. 1:59be built up in him. He wants them to
42. 2:02mature, staying in him and established
43. 2:07in your faith just as you were
44. 2:09instructed and overflowing with
45. 2:12gratitude.
46. 2:14Firmly rooted, built up, established,
47. 2:19instructed, overflowing with gratitude.
48. 2:24See to it that no one takes you captive
49. 2:28through philosophy
50. 2:30and empty deception
51. 2:32according to the tradition of men
52. 2:37according to the elementary principles
53. 2:40of the world rather than according to
54. 2:43Christ.
55. 2:45So here he draws the battle lines and on
56. 2:48one side we got philosophy,
57. 2:50we got traditions of men,
58. 2:53we got emptiness,
59. 2:56okay, we got the elementary principles
60. 2:59of the world, the basics that the whole
61. 3:02fallen world runs by. And on the other
62. 3:04side we have Christ.
63. 3:07Okay. See to it that no one takes you
64. 3:09captive through philosophy.
65. 3:12Is your faith becoming a philosophy?
66. 3:14You're being taken captive.
67. 3:17Is the deception that you're thinking
68. 3:19about, is it empty? Does it lack power
69. 3:22and might? You're being taken captive.
70. 3:26Is it according to the traditions of
71. 3:28men? Remember Jesus said, "You forsake
72. 3:32the commandment of God for your
73. 3:34traditions."
74. 3:36Is it something that people invent or is
75. 3:38it really something from God? according
76. 3:40to the elementary principles of the
77. 3:42world. Are you returning to be
78. 3:43controlled by what everybody in the
79. 3:46fallen world is controlled by?
80. 3:48Every fallen system
81. 3:51rather than according to Christ.
82. 3:54For in him, in Christ, all the fullness
83. 4:00of deity dwells in bodily form.
84. 4:07All of it. Not a third of it. All of it
85. 4:11dwells in Jesus in bodily form. All
86. 4:15deity dwells in Jesus. He is not a third
87. 4:19of the Godhead. He is not one angle of
88. 4:24the Godhead. He is all the fullness.
89. 4:29And in him you have been made complete.
90. 4:32And he is the head over all rule and
91. 4:34authority.
92. 4:36Okay, look at this. He's saying, "What
93. 4:39are you hoping to get from philosophy
94. 4:42and traditions?" What are you hoping to
95. 4:45get?
96. 4:46Everything that is of God, God himself
97. 4:50is in Jesus. And Jesus has agreed to
98. 4:55become one with a people. That's his
99. 4:57body. So you can be completely united
100. 5:01with the father if you'll become part of
101. 5:04Jesus in whom the father was completely
102. 5:07united.
103. 5:09So he says in him all the fullness of
104. 5:11deity dwells in bodily form and in him
105. 5:14you have been made complete. The word
106. 5:18there is fullness.
107. 5:21You have been made part of the fullness
108. 5:24and he is the head over all rule and
109. 5:27authority. And in him you were also
110. 5:29circumcised with a circumcision made
111. 5:32without hands in the removal of the body
112. 5:34of the flesh by the circumcision of
113. 5:37Christ having been buried with him in
114. 5:40baptism in which you were also raised up
115. 5:44with him through faith in the working of
116. 5:47God who raised him from the dead.
117. 5:51So he's saying
118. 5:53the christologology here is he's saying
119. 5:56because Jesus rose from the dead, he's
120. 5:59been exalted to the highest place. He's
121. 6:01been glorified. It pleased the father
122. 6:04that everything of God is residing and
123. 6:07emanating from Jesus. But the good news
124. 6:10is you have been made a part of that
125. 6:14Jesus, part of his body. How? Through a
126. 6:18circumcision. Now, circumcision is a
127. 6:21very unique phrase that he's using here
128. 6:23because circumcision was how you entered
129. 6:26the covenant of the community. In
130. 6:30Genesis 15 and 17, when the Lord
131. 6:33institutes circumcision, he tells
132. 6:35Abraham, "Whoever is not circumcised has
133. 6:39broken my covenant, he shall be put out
134. 6:41of his people."
135. 6:43So Paul is saying baptism is for the new
136. 6:46covenant like circumcision was for the
137. 6:47old only in this sense. Baptism puts you
138. 6:51in the people. Baptism puts you in the
139. 6:55body of Christ that Christ is completely
140. 6:58united with and that the father is
141. 7:00dwelling in. And this is Christ in you,
142. 7:03the hope of glory. And he ties our death
143. 7:07of our old man in repentance, our
144. 7:09immersion into the body, and our
145. 7:10resurrection into the body. He says that
146. 7:12that is symbol, he's indicating that
147. 7:15that is symbolizing Christ's
148. 7:17resurrection because his resurrection is
149. 7:21the antecedent to his glorification. And
150. 7:24our hope and mystery is Christ in us,
151. 7:26the hope of a coming glorification. In
152. 7:29him, you are also circumcised with a
153. 7:30circumcision made without hands. So
154. 7:33baptism is not a work of the flesh.
155. 7:35Don't let anybody tell you that baptism
156. 7:37is a work, so it can't be part of
157. 7:39salvation. No, baptism is a wedding vow,
158. 7:41so it has to be part of salvation. You
159. 7:44have to go through this right of
160. 7:47passage. Doesn't mean you can't be saved
161. 7:49before baptism. He can impute baptism to
162. 7:52you so long as you're walking toward it
163. 7:53by faith. But baptism is the work of
164. 7:57God. It is a circumcision made without
165. 7:59hands because the water is simply a
166. 8:02symbol of what God is doing in you
167. 8:04through regeneration
168. 8:08having been buried with him in baptism
169. 8:10in which you were also raised up with
170. 8:11him through faith in the working of God
171. 8:13who has raised him from the dead. Now
172. 8:15this is in contrast to empty traditions
173. 8:17of men philosophy.
174. 8:20When you were dead in your
175. 8:21transgressions and the uncircumcision of
176. 8:25your flesh, he made you alive together
177. 8:29with him, having forgiven us all our
178. 8:32transgressions,
179. 8:34having canceled out the certificate of
180. 8:37debt consisting of decrees against us,
181. 8:41which was hostile to us, and he has
182. 8:43taken it out of the way, having nailed
183. 8:46it to the cross, when he had disarmed
184. 8:49the ruler rulers and authorities. He
185. 8:51made a public display of them, having
186. 8:54triumphed over them through him. So he's
187. 8:57saying what Jesus did at the cross is he
188. 9:00took the law that the devil was using to
189. 9:03keep you out of the presence of God
190. 9:06and it's what it's what was nailed to
191. 9:08the cross. So when he rose again,
192. 9:12he left the law nailed to the tree. He
193. 9:16left the law defeated out of the way.
194. 9:19the certificate of ordinances against
195. 9:21us. Amen. He took it out so that we
196. 9:24could have relationship with God. Once
197. 9:26again, so that this threat would not
198. 9:29keep us from his presence.
199. 9:33When he says you were dead in your
200. 9:35transgressions and the uncircumcision of
201. 9:38your flesh, he made you alive, that term
202. 9:41made you alive means he resurrected you.
203. 9:44He made you alive. That can be
204. 9:46translated he resurrected you. You were
205. 9:49dead. He made you alive. He resurrected
206. 9:51you. So this is the first resurrection.
207. 9:55This is when we receive the Holy Spirit.
208. 9:56We're participating in the death,
209. 10:00burial, and resurrection of Jesus
210. 10:03Christ. Okay? When he had disarmed the
211. 10:06rulers and authorities, he made a public
212. 10:08display of them, having triumphed over
213. 10:10them through him. So, how did he disarm
214. 10:14rulers and authorities? If they were
215. 10:16using the law as the weapon and he
216. 10:19submitted to let the law kill him
217. 10:21unjustly, he took their weapon out of
218. 10:23their hand and snapped it and said, "You
219. 10:25just did something unjust. Now, it has
220. 10:28no validity and it's not going to hold
221. 10:30anybody back." Therefore, no one is to
222. 10:33act as your judge in regard to food
223. 10:38or drink or in respect to a festival or
224. 10:41a new moon or a Sabbath day. Things
225. 10:45which are a mere shadow of what is to
226. 10:49come. But the substance
227. 10:53belongs to Christ.
228. 10:55He's saying, you got Jesus. He gave you
229. 10:58himself.
230. 11:00You're not going to be saved by a moon
231. 11:03or a Sabbath or rituals. Forget it. All
232. 11:07of that was to give you the chance to
233. 11:10know Jesus, to know his presence, to
234. 11:13have his power, his grace, his love, his
235. 11:15forgiveness.
236. 11:18Let no one keep defrauding you of your
237. 11:22prize by delighting in self-abasement
238. 11:27and the worship of angels,
239. 11:30taking his stand on visions he has seen,
240. 11:34inflated without cause by his fleshly
241. 11:38mind.
242. 11:39It's very spiritual but very fleshly.
243. 11:43They're trying to add something. I have
244. 11:45A VISION. I SAW ANGELS. I think we
245. 11:48should be worshiping angels.
246. 11:52He says, "And they are not holding fast
247. 11:54to the head from whom the entire body
248. 11:58being supplied and held together by the
249. 12:02joints and ligaments grows with a growth
250. 12:06which is from God." The whole contrast
251. 12:10is what is God doing? What is the power
252. 12:14and might of the spirit doing versus
253. 12:18what is rules and dos and don'ts and
254. 12:22festivals and sabbaths and doing not
255. 12:26much.
256. 12:28We want the growth which is from God. If
257. 12:32you have died with Christ to the
258. 12:36elementary principles of the world, why
259. 12:39as if you were living in the world, do
260. 12:42you submit yourself to decrees such as
261. 12:45do not handle, do not taste, do not
262. 12:47touch, which all refer to things
263. 12:51destined to perish with use
264. 12:54in accordance with the commandments and
265. 12:56teachings of men. Why are you doing
266. 12:58this? Why are you acting like that's
267. 13:00going to help?
268. 13:02Look at this. In verse 23, he gives us
269. 13:05his clincher.
270. 13:07These are matters
271. 13:10which have to be sure the appearance of
272. 13:15wisdom
273. 13:17in selfmade
274. 13:20religion
275. 13:22and selfabasement
276. 13:25and severe treatment of the body
277. 13:29but are of no value against fleshly
278. 13:36indulgence.
279. 13:39He does not hate all their rules and
280. 13:41regulations
281. 13:43because it's too hard on the flesh and
282. 13:45he wants the Colossians to live more
283. 13:47free. He starts off by saying that he
284. 13:50admires their good discipline.
285. 13:52That isn't his point at all.
286. 13:55He just says those things that legalism
287. 13:59doesn't actually kill the flesh. It's of
288. 14:02no value against fleshly indulgence. But
289. 14:05if you would surrender your will, if you
290. 14:08would die to yourself, if you would live
291. 14:10by the spirit, that is of great value in
292. 14:14putting to death the deeds of the flesh.
293. 14:16What does he tell the Romans? If you
294. 14:18live according to the flesh, you will
295. 14:21die. But if by the spirit you put to
296. 14:25death the deeds of the body, you will
297. 14:27live. If you try to put to death the
298. 14:29deeds of the body by the flesh, by the
299. 14:31rules, by the Sabbaths, by the new
300. 14:33moons, by aeticism, it's of no value.
301. 14:37Your flesh just gets more arrogant that
302. 14:39look what I've done. But if you can
303. 14:42humble yourself and become one and hold
304. 14:45fast to the head, then there's a real
305. 14:49value in circumcising, freeing you from
306. 14:52the body of death, the whole self-will
307. 14:57mechanism of your carnal nature. That is
308. 15:00of value against fleshly indulgence.
309. 15:04So that's what Paul wants. He wants them
310. 15:06to not pick something that has no value.
311. 15:08He wants them to stay in the
312. 15:10circumcision that cuts the flesh off at
313. 15:12the root. That cuts self-will off at the
314. 15:15root and taps them in to the life and
315. 15:19spirit and submission and fellowship and
316. 15:22oneness with God through Christ in his
317. 15:25body.